Product Delivery
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Executive Summary
Problem
Packages are lost every year to due to human error, leading to negative reviews and increased cost.
Recommendation
Incorporate software that regulates conveyor belts in warehouses, and create a chatbot that accurately predicts when a package will arrive.
Outcome
Walmart will improve product shipping operations, reducing costs, and increasing transparency for users.
Shipping Operations
The shipping experience is not up to the standard of many other retailers in the space, and as a result, misplaced and late packages become common. This means valuable time and money is being wasted on answering package questions at call centres. Furthermore, customers are not satisfied with the experience, which can lead to more customers buying from competitors.
Tracking Experience
The existing tracking experience sets user expectations inaccurately causing people to lose faith in delivery, and submit avoidable delivery update requests to customer service channels. Left uncorrected, will cause people to order from a different company with more accurate tracking.
Client Spotlight:
Louise Levesque
She is disappointed with her Walmart tracking experiences as it rarely works, and when it does, it is inaccurate.
She would rather use Amazon to ship her products, even if it takes longer because:
They have accurate tracking.
She gets notified everyday on it's progress and if it is delayed or ahead.
She gets notified when it has been delivered.
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Louise is not Alone
In 2017, roughly 1 233 674 consumers that had some kind of problem with their packages, whether it be late arrival, or no arrival at all.
Problems with Tracking
Changes
The tracking date often changes and the customer cannot find an accurate prediction on their package’s arrival date.
Notifications
Customers are not notified on the whereabouts of their package or when it has been delivered.
Bad Customer Service
When customers ask where their package is, call centres aren’t equipped with the data to answer questions.
Not Working
Customers are frustrated when the tracking doesn’t work and they have to call in or re-order. Of all the calls to call centres, 17% of them are about tracking issues.
Problems with Shipping
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32%
Percentage of the total number of packages affected by shipping and tracking problems in 2017.
System Prone to Human Error
Employees can mislabel packages if they feel rushed, especially during rush hour.
Over $2 million Lost
Bad reviews lead to customers switching to companies with more reliable shipping systems.
1.6 Star Review
For overall online Walmart shipping ratings.
Recommendations
Shipping Conveyor Belt
Use software to slow down the conveyor belt during rush hour, resulting in better shipping accuracy.
How to make a Conveyor Belt more Effective
Slow down the conveyor belt enough so employees aren’t making errors, but ensure it still goes fast enough for packages to arrive on time.
Make sure the conveyor belt speed increases after rush hour, in order to decrease delivery times.
Automate the slowing down/ speeding up process, because if it’s done manually it will take the time of employees who could be packaging.
Benefits of an Improved Conveyor Belt
Accuracy
The products are more likely to be shipped to the right address as the employees have more time to check, and won’t feel stressed during rush hour.
Cost
If a team of 15 software engineers worked together for one year to create the software, the cost would be $1 065 825. This is assuming all the regular equipment stays the same (i.e. the conveyor belts).
Savings
There will be significant savings because if the shipping experience is on point, customers will recommend online shopping on walmart.ca, boosting e-commerce sales.
More Automation
With bigger savings Walmart could integrate more automation in their shipping system in the future like a machine that automatically contacts and re-orders the package if the delivery fails.
More In Depth About Savings
As mentioned before, if the shipping system is awesome, the sales will be too. Customers won’t advise their friends against shopping on Walmart.ca if they received full satisfaction. In terms of numbers, about $1 328 888 959.32 can be saved with the conveyor belt annually. According to a study done by HF Holiday, the average person has about 13 friends in their friend network. Using the data from 2017 in which 1 233 674 people were affected by the bad quality of the shipping system, and assuming they told their 13 friends not to shop using Walmart.ca, then Walmart lost $1 328 888 959.32 in potential sales.
Tracking Chatbot
Use a tracking chatbot to accurately predict when the package will arrive.
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Rescue E-Commerce
Customers who previously chose to order from more reliable sources will be able to put faith back into Walmart online.
Languages
Chatbots will be able to understand people that have accents or speak in different languages so multicultural e-commerce will be promoted.
Call Centre
Call center engagements for tracking will be reduced, easing the strain on some customer service channels.
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Costs
$1620 annually, if sourcing chatbot from Helpshift.
Benefits of a Tracking Chatbot
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Savings
Roughly $2 467 348 annually for call centre expenses, based on data from 2017.
Companies that can Help
Live Person
Helpshift
(212) 609-4200
Personal Note
Dear Walmart team,
We would like to thank Walmart for giving us this amazing opportunity! We appreciate that you took the time to read through our recommendations. This challenge helped us understand the many different challenges involved in the retail industry, and the difficulty of thinking up innovative solutions.
We hope that we were able to assist Walmart in improving the shipping and tracking process, or start a conversation about exploring new strategies. We fully believe
that by improving the shipping and tracking we could reduce operational costs and allow Walmart to be consistent in delivering high quality to customers.
Please don’t hesitate to contact us via email or linkedin with any of your questions or concerns. We would be happy to help and to work more with Walmart in the future.
Thank you!
Paige & Ramandeep
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